The Photographer's Cookbook

In the late 1970s, the George Eastman House approached a group of photographers to ask for their favorite recipes and food-related photographs to go with them, in pursuit of publishing a cookbook. Playing off George Eastmanª¡s own famous recipe for lemon meringue pie, as well as former director Beaumont Newhallª¡s love of food, the cookbook grew from the idea that photographersª¡ talent in the darkroom must also translate into special skills in the kitchen. The recipes do not disappoint, with Robert Adamsª¡s Big Sugar Cookies, Ansel Adamsª¡s Poached Eggs in Beer, Richard Avedonª¡s Royal Pot Roast, Imogen Cunninghamª¡s Borscht, William Egglestonª¡s Cheese Grits Casserole, Stephen Shoreª¡s Key Lime Pie Supreme, and Ed Ruschaª¡s Cactus Omelet, to name a few. The book was never published, and the materials have remained in George Eastman Houseª¡s collection ever since. Now, forty years later, this extensive and distinctive archive of untouched recipes and photographs are published in The Photographerª¡s Cookbook for the first time. The book provides a time capsule of contemporary photographers of the 1970sª¢many before they made a name for themselvesª¢as well as a fascinating look at how they depicted food, family, and home, taking readers behind the camera and into the hearts, and stomachs of some of photographyª¡s most important practitioners.